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The personal computer isn't dead, but it's not in the prime of its youth, either. It is, in fact, a bit long in the tooth.

Case in point: Last week, tech market research firms Gartner and IDC both reported that PC shipments surprisingly had declined in the first quarter—the first year-over-year drop in 1½ years. Both firms had predicted a modest rise. This was the third quarter in a row that PC shipments missed Gartner's and IDC's estimates. Basically, the PC market has been steadily running out of gas. Why? A couple of unusual events must be factored in.

Intelintc 0.16806722689075632%Intel Corp.U.S.: NasdaqUSD35.76
0.060.16806722689075632%
/Date(1481308760351-0600)/
Volume (Delayed 15m)
:
7340158
P/E Ratio
16.84433962264151Market Cap
169182303615.57
Dividend Yield
2.9123494819378326% Rev. per Employee
539860More quote details and news »intcinYour ValueYour ChangeShort position
(INTC) said in late January that it had a glitch in some chips, and that the error would prevent it from shipping its latest and greatest microprocessors to certain customers. That surely hurt some PC shipments. And the disaster in Japan doubtless had an effect. It has been one of the top markets for more-expensive "professional" computers, the kinds used by graphic-design types. But those were one-quarter affairs: they don't explain the trend of missing estimates over multiple quarters.

The quarter's biggest loser was Taiwan's Acer (2353.Taiwan), which saw a 12.2% drop in sales last quarter. That was no surprise, as the firm posted disappointing results last month and said that its CEO would resign.

Acer, which is in a dead heat with
Dell
(DELL) for the No. 2 spot among PC makers—
Hewlett-Packardhpq -1.9183168316831682%HP Inc.U.S.: NYSEUSD15.85
-0.31-1.9183168316831682%
/Date(1481308760054-0600)/
Volume (Delayed 15m)
:
4454696
P/E Ratio
11.154929577464788Market Cap
27647755520.191
Dividend Yield
3.351010101010101% Rev. per Employee
168077More quote details and news »hpqinYour ValueYour ChangeShort position
(HPQ) holds the No. 1 spot—is the poster child for the netbook, a kind of cheap, stripped-down computer that emerged a few years ago. These machines don't offer the end user a lot, and they've fallen prey to the iPad and other tablets, which also are cheap but offer huger interface advantages, such as the ability to move objects on the screen with a swipe of your finger.

THE DEEPER REALITY is that personal computers are less and less of a priority for corporations and consumers alike.

Here at Dow Jones, and at our parent,
News Corp.
(NWSA), there is an emphasis on getting gadgets—such as the iPhone and the iPad and easy-to-use cameras—into reporters' hands in order to foster ever-more sophisticated on-the-go reporting that incorporates audio and video.

That reflects a trend throughout the globe toward devices such as smartphones and other connected gadgets, and away from PCs. If you can do more work from an iPad, and not buy a new laptop or desktop, so much the better.

We've seen such change before. The mainframe yielded to minicomputers 30 years ago. Then, minis lost out to the PC and to servers. Mainframes are still around, but their growth isn't what it once was.

The same fate may befall PCs: They'll be around for a long time; they just won't be quite as important.

Another company with some soul-searching to do is
Google
(GOOG). It missed first-quarter earnings expectations because expenses rose much faster than revenue. The question: Is Google spending wisely or willy-nilly?

Last week, I visited Google's East Coast headquarters in Manhattan. Google is doing what amounts to basic science on an extraordinary scale, achieving breakthroughs in how people relate to information. These eventually could generate profits. But as Paul Wick, a hedge-fund manager with Columbia Management, seethed in an e-mail to me Friday, Google's directors, "think they're the smartest guys in the room. 'How dare shareholders tell us to shoot for earnings leverage, when we can invest in all of these neat projects that will make us even cooler?'"

I'm still a big believer in all that cool stuff Google is developing. But I fear the stock, off 10% this year at a recent $534, may keep treading water as long as the company's priorities, and its uses of cash, remain a mystery to investors.

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Google's escalated spending weighed on tech stocks, and the Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 0.6% for its second straight weekly loss.